How to Send a Voice Note on Hinge

You can only send a voice note to someone you have already matched with. Open the chat with your match, tap the microphone at the bottom, speak, and tap the square to stop recording. You can then play it back or tap X to record it again, and when you are happy with it, tap the up arrow to send.

1. Open the chat with the woman you matched with.
2. Tap the microphone at the bottom of the chat.
3. Say what you want to say.
4. Tap the square to stop recording.
5. Play it back to hear how it sounds, or tap X to scrap it and record again.
6. Tap the up arrow to send.

The match comes first. Since Hinge only lets you send one after you have matched, a voice note is a tool for the conversation, not for the opening.

The playback step is there for a reason, so use it every time.

A voice note sounds different from how it felt to say. You might hear a long pause in the middle, a mumble at the end, or a laugh that runs on a beat too long. Background noise you stopped noticing, like a television, traffic or a friend talking, comes through clearly.

Tapping X costs nothing. Record it again until it sounds like you on a good day: relaxed, clear and short.

Text strips out the one thing that makes most men more attractive in person: tone. A voice note puts it back.

a dating coach's view is that the more personal the medium, the better. A video call beats a phone call, a phone call beats a voice message, and a voice message beats text. Each step up gives her more of you and less room to misread you.

That matters most with teasing. A playful jab in text can land as rude, which is why coach suggests adding an emoji to make a joke's intent clear. Said out loud, with a smile she can hear, the same jab lands as flirting.

coach also has a specific use for them. When you have a long answer to give, the kind that would turn into a paragraph, send it as a voice message instead. A wall of text looks like hard work and heavy interest. The same content, spoken in forty seconds, feels easy.

Keep it short. A good voice note usually runs well under a minute. You are giving her a taste of how you sound, not recording a podcast.

Answer what she asked, then add one real detail about your life. If she asked about your weekend, tell her one specific thing you did and one thing that happened. Details like that are what make her feel she knows you a little.

Keep the tone light. Smile while you talk. It changes your voice more than anything you could say.

End with something for her to pick up: a question, a small challenge, or a plan. "I'm going to that wine bar on Friday, I'll report back on whether it lives up to the hype" invites her in without asking for anything.

As a first reply to a woman who has sent you two words. If she is giving you very little, a long recording from you is a big jump in effort that she has not matched. Keep it to text until the conversation has some life in it.

As a monologue. Two minutes of you talking asks for a lot of her attention. If you have that much to say, it belongs on a date.

As a string of them. One voice note is charming. Four in a row, with no reply in between, looks like you are more invested than she is.

When she clearly prefers text. If she never sends one back and answers your voice notes in short typed lines, go back to typing. The medium should suit both of you.

A voice note is a small step up from text, and the next step up is a call. In a good conversation, it is a natural bridge between the two.

If she sends one back, the two of you are already talking out loud. That is a good moment to suggest a quick call, and keeping it short makes it easy for her to say yes. A ten-minute call builds more comfort than a week of typing, and it lets both of you confirm the other person is who they seem to be.

Or skip the call and suggest the plan directly. If the voice notes have been warm and a plan has already come up, all that is left is a place and a time. That is the whole point of the chat.